Tags:
Journalism of Courage
The Indian bee keeping industry is struggling hard to fight the attack by Varroa mites. The attack has reduced honey production by almost 50 per cent in Himachal Pradesh.
The outbreak of Varroa in Apis mellifera honey bee colonies was first reported in India from Himachal Pradesh some months ago. Soon after the detection of this harmful mites in this hilly state, entomologists found large scale presence of Varroa in Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and other parts of the country.
Currently, India has about one million colonies of honeybees. However, scientists are of the opinion that if three colonies are accommodated in one hectare, the country would require more than 200 million colonies of honeybee. The country has varied agro climatic zones ranging from seashore to dry temperate region, thereby it has diversity of multifarious plant resources. 8220;Despite the fact that the country has rich floral diversity and ideal climatic conditions for bee keeping, the over all production of honey is about 55,000 metric tonne per year,8221; said Dr Raj Kumar Thakur, a scientist of the Department of Entomology and Apiculture of Parmar Varsity.
Varroa directly affects brooding by multiplying on the developing larvae of bees and manifesting its deleterious effects on adult bees. The infested larvae emerge as workers having shorter abdomen and deformed wings. It kills the honey bees within few years. In severely infested colonies, a large number of dead and live mites had been found in the debris falling on the bottom board. The mite has infested more than 70 to 80 per cent colonies in north India.
8220;The mite could be controlled only by destroying drone brood, trapping Varroa on drone brood, use of sticky papers and dusting powdered sugar on frames,8221; said Kumar.
